Chen Meng, a famous national table tennis player, recalled his various experiences under pressure from public opinion for many years, and revealed his plans after retirement

Chen Meng, a two-time Olympic table tennis women's singles gold medalist, was recently interviewed and recalled her various experiences under the pressure of public opinion over the years. 31-year-old Chinese player Chen Meng announced her retirement from the table tennis world ranking at the end of last year, fading out of the table tennis circle, and she won the women's singles and women's team gold medals at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics in a recent interview, recalling a lot of past events.

Two-time Olympic table tennis women's singles gold medalist Chen Meng

After losing at the Rio 2016 Olympic trials, Chen Meng did not compete in his first Olympic Games at the age of 27 until he was 27 years old. She revealed that because the coaching team often said that the Olympics were a hotbed of upsets, she was nervous at that time, suffered from insomnia from time to time, and even subconsciously made swinging movements in her sleep. It wasn't until after a game that she began to let go of her heart, "Eight into four with the Hong Kong player (Du Kaiqin), behind (0:2) to win, suddenly feel that the heart and state are activated, just not afraid."

Chen Meng, who eventually defeated teammate Sun Yingsha in the final to win the women's singles gold medal, was asked after the match if she could describe her mood in one word, she said: "My time has come." However, she was attacked and ridiculed by the Internet because of this sentence, and one of the reasons for this is that the "queens" of national table tennis in previous dynasties, such as Deng Yaping, Wang Nan, and Zhang Yining, have never said anything similar.

Chen Meng explained that he was very excited and happy at that time, and after 14 years of joining the national table tennis, he finally stood on the highest point of the Olympic podium, "At that moment, I felt that it belonged to me, and I could finally release it after holding it for so many years."

She thinks the criticism is unfair: "Athletes in many sports also have very individual expressions. Those athletes are so excited after winning the Olympic gold medal, they can say whatever they want, why do I get that criticism when I say that? ”

Chen Meng won the women's singles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics during the pandemic

Chen Meng revealed that public opinion made her extremely stressed, and she once fell into a panic, "As soon as I arrived at the competition venue, I felt that the audience was talking about me, and I was even worried that the audience would suddenly rush over and do something unfavorable, so I couldn't focus on the game, and I would feel afraid when I saw people." She once broke down, doubted herself, tried to lock herself in the toilet for two hours after the upset, and told her coach that she didn't want to play table tennis anymore.

What reinvigorated her was the World Table Tennis Team Championships in February 2024, when the national table tennis and Japan met in the final, Chen Meng lost a point to Hina Hayada in the second game, and then the two teams played 2:2, and the finale was played by Chen Menghuo and 15-year-old Miwa Zhangmoto.

"She's got an advanced style of play, I've never played against her, but this one is a tiebreaker and you have to face it. If I lose again, one person will lose two points in the team competition, like a sinner, and he will have no face to return home. But winning in this situation feels like another improvement in my ability. ”

went to the women's singles final of the Paris Olympics, Chen Meng met Sun Yingsha again, under the "fan circle culture", Sun Yingsha's "fans" shouted before Chen Meng kicked off from time to time; After Chen Meng won the gold, he was booed by Chinese fans and raised his middle finger. Chen Meng said: "If I affect myself because of this kind of shouting, wouldn't my efforts be in vain for more than three years? ”

Chen Meng defeated Sun Yingsha twice in the Olympic women's singles final

She has been repeatedly criticized by fans and public opinion, and she admits that she attaches more importance to the result than the process: "The result is not a championship and you pay in vain, who cares how much you pay before?" Everyone worked hard, but only one person was happy at the end of the game. ”

"If it's wrong for me to win the championship and try to follow my dream, then there is no need to be a champion in competitive sports. I deserve to win you, and we're both going to win. She revealed that even though she never won the women's singles gold medal at the World Championships, she had no regrets after winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, and wanted to open a coffee shop, learn English, and enjoy the happiness brought by other sports after retiring.